The God Complex
by SilverGhostII
Summary: Akemi Oshiro wasn't a normal person, there was something dark and dangerous about her, she had a very dark mind and very dark goals, her plans for Ikebukuro are possibly even worse, but can the obsession of a Private Detective actually turn out to help the city before it is too late? Hold your friends close and your enemies closer...
1. Overconfidence

**PLEASE READ: So yeah, probably will help to read The Tomoko Complex first as this is the sequel **

**So I kinda scrapped my second story as I came to a dead end and the story wasn't really focusing on Rei and it really just moved to fast without enough detail. I adored writing about Tomoko, and I loved Rei's POV, so I was wondering what to do, and then BAM, I was slapped with inspiration. Enjoy.**

Her name was Akemi Oshiro and from the first time I met her, I _disliked _her instantly. When I say met, I mean properly met, I had seen her around before, she was actually someone who I was going to help out once. If I'm completely honest, I reckoned myself as a bit of a detective, so I sort of quit my job to become a private detective, but honestly, the whole thing started when I sort of wanted to ruin Tomoko's life by finding out about her so I could use it against her. But after my attempt to seduce information about her out of Izaya Orihara, I decided to find out about her in other ways, which I am not proud to say, but such other ways consisted of stalking her. I guess my hate became an obsession, no, not like that. I only did that because like I just stated, I wanted to ruin her life, whilst doing this dodgy stalking thing, I discovered that _she_ herself was actually a hired stalker, hired by none other than her precious little flea. *gag* Anyway, Akemi Oshiro was one of her victims; she was following her to find out about where she was having a meeting. I was going to warn this Akemi Oshiro, but the little Tick got there first, I was pretty peeved about the whole situation seeing as I was pretty sure I had her on this one, but shit happens and yet again she comes up on top. It was about this time I found about Tomoko Akiyama's stepfather, I founding myself rather evilly planning to tip off this guy about the fact she lived with Izaya Orihara in Shinjuku and have her pretty much killed hopefully in front of Izaya and hopefully have him killed too, as that would make Shizuo _verrrry_ happy, but someone ot there first. Tomoko Akiyama was stabbed or more acuratly slashed by a gang member saving Izaya. She bled to death on the pavement.

But this story I am telling you isn't about Tomoko Akiyama, Shizuo or I, it is about Akemi Oshiro. It was about 5 years after Tomoko's death that I first saw Akemi Oshiro and Izaya Orihara out together. At first I thought it was just another one of his followers, but the more I saw them together, the more I realized it wasn't the case.

Akemi Oshiro was a few months older than both Tomoko and I. She was a very strange looking girl, maybe that isn't the right way to say it, no, she was very unique and exotic. She originally had bleached blonde hair, which she had recently bleached into silver, which suited her a hell of a lot better, I think it was because it made her look more intimidating. She had cold, cold eyes, ice blue that practically gave you brain freeze if you looked at them for too long. Was she pretty? I don't know, as much as I hated Tomoko, Tomoko was very beautiful and just seemed more _right_ with Izaya. This girl, well, she was "pretty if you like that sort of girl" if I quote Shizuo for it.

A lot had changed in those five years. I officially got together with Shizuo, which was great, Tomoko was dead, which was great (in a sick, twisted way), and Izaya didn't come into Ikebukuro much, but I personally think that that was because he was too busy hatching and evil plan. Now, back Akemi; on the rare occasions I saw Izaya in 'bukuro after Tomoko's death, he was always with that girl, If I was Tomoko, I'd be pretty pissed that I was replaced so damn quickly, but that was Izaya, always had a new toy, and that is all I thought that Akemi was, just another one of his toys, just like I was Tomoko's puppet in Highschool. I kinda realized that that wasn't the case when I saw the way she hung on to him, softening those cold eyes of hers just for him. To me, she looked boring, deadpanned and an irritant, but I was wrong.

Ok, so I was right about her and Izaya, but I was wrong wrong wrong about her, she wasn't was dull as I thought she was. The first time I actually spoke to her was when we were both out and about at the same time and we coincidently bumped into each other, and when Izaya and Shizuo bump into each other, Ikebukuro is more a city of debris than a city of life. It had started like it always did, with Shizuo throwing sign posts and Izaya dodging and taunting us, but it never really bothered me anymore, he didn't know how to hurt me like Tomoko did. It was as the pair ran off across the city together, one trying the kill the other, that I realized that I was left standing awkwardly with Izaya's... uh... whatever she was to him .

"Do not worry, this is normal for them." Akemi spoke, her voice was quiet, cold and kinda empty-like, if her cold eyes and Izaya's taste in women (if he had one, no offense Tomoko) didn't tell me otherwise, I would have put her down as shy. She was tall, same height as me, but I found myself gazing up to her, ah, I gotcha, she is the kind of type to make you do things subconsciously. I hated the way she spoke to me like I was Shizuo's freakin' child not his fiancée, and to top it off, I have know both Izaya and Shizuo longer than she has. Who the heck did she think she was?

"Suzuki, Rei, Suzuki I have heard about you. Still have that jealous streak?" She lisped smiling at me.

"Oshiro, Akemi Oshiro, one of the people stalked by Izaya's Tomoko Akiyama, am I correct?" I shot back, narrowing my grey eyes at this know it all bitch. Well, she was about to be taken down a peg. She narrowed her eyes back at me.

"Please do not speak that name again. She is nothing compared to me, and yes, I see you comparing us." She whispered back. Damn, did she always speak so cold and quietly.

"Who's the jealous one?" I said, taking a stab at a joke. She smiled a taunt smile, a smile a mother would smile at a child who has told the same boring story a hundred times, but there was a slight hint of impression in her eyes, like she hadn't expected me to be so sharp.

"If circumstances were different, I think you and I could be friends." She murmured quietly, chewing the side of her thumb and tipping her head sideways. That cute looked doesn't work on me, I had to deal with it since high-school. This bitch was nothing but a bad rip off of Tomoko, but wisdom had been amplified. I had a sinking feeling that my peaceful life was about to be disturbed. She turned to walk off, our conversation had ended and she was bored, but as she did so, a rather angry and rough looking Shizuo appeared from round the corner, pantin loudly and cursing under his breath. I watched, intrigued as Akemi tugged on Shizuo's sleeve like a little kid and whispered something in his ear.

"Uh...no." was all Shizuo said, looking slightly awkward. Akemi sighed a soft, sweet sigh and skipped off. She was weird, a sort of mystery girl. I didn't like her.

"What was that about?" I asked curiously, looking up at Shizuo, smiling my crooked smile.

"Nothing important." He said, looking kinda shifty. He smiled at the sight of my disbelieving face and ruffled my hair. "Really. So! Where too? Russia Sushi." He said, changing the subject as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lighting it and taking a deep drag of it.

I gave him a nod. That was the last I really thought much of Akemi Oshiro, until the rumours started...


	2. Curiosity

We ate in silence, the only sound that could be heard was the steady drumming of my fingers on the table, and my brain was ticking, tick, tick, ticking. This Akemi girl had caught my attention, curiosity killed the cat, but I no longer cared. I had always been a naturally curious person, questioning and investigating everything, it was what I lived for. Ok, so I was nosy, but in a good way. Honest. I continued tap tap tapping my fingers on the table, deep in intense though when Shizuo's voice broke my thoughts so suddenly it was as if someone had broken a glass.

"Would you quit doing that?" he snapped, the irritance in his voice taking me by surprise, I felt a little stung, I had hated it when I upset Shizuo, it probably made me more upset than anything. I felt the sting of tears in my eyes but I blinked them back, I was a cry baby, but I hated tears, I couldn't abide them, but I was such a peachy person it was almost second nature to feel that familiar sting in my grey eyes. It is kinda pathetic really.

"Oh, er, I... I'm sorry Rei, it's just that that flea has pissed me off and put me in a bad mood..." He said awkwardly, trailing back off into silence. I looked down at my lap, I had successfully held back the waterworks. Shizuo lent across the table and patted my shoulder, which made me cringe, I hated it when people do that, but now wasn't the time to say anything. The ringing of my personal phone had broken our silence.

"Do you mind?" I asked Shizuo, motioning for me to take the call outside. He shook his head and I got up and stepped outside, leaning up against the wall. I quickly pressed the green button, ignoring the fact that I didn't recognise the number and answered the call.

"Are you the private detective?" The voice came through all robot like, I was going to hang up then and there, I mean, how the Hell did this person get my personal phone number, but my burning curiosity kept me on the line.

"If you want Rei Suzuki it is."

"Oh? Not Rei Heiwajima then yet?" I sighed, not even a voice masker could hide who was speaking to me, it doesn't take a detective to find that out, excuse the pun.

"Izaya, come off of it, what do you want?" I snapped, ready to hang up the phone right now.

"I am not Izaya although you may wish I am; I just come with a warning. If you dig too deep, you might end u getting buried, just be careful who you mess with, you know the consequence of what happens when you try and find out about people don't you?" I felt a slight chill crawl down my spine, it was as if I was talking to that freaking Akiyama all over again.

"Who's. Calling?" I said as I gritted my teeth, spitting the words out. A force of anger had hit me hard and I allowed the wave to drag me under. Yet again, I was succumbing to rage.

"Curiosity killed the cat." And the call was ended. Dammit! I tried to ring the number back from my work phone.

"The number you tried to ring does not exist." The voicemail lady informed me. I raised my arm to throw my phone on the floor and smash it into the ground just to release this damn anger but a firm had gripped my raised arm. I turned around to see Shizuo, cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"Chill." He said with a hint of a smile. "What is it?" He said, dropping my arm, which I am pretty sure was now bruised. I sighed

"The thing is, I don't know, just some twisted prank call." said shaking it off with a wave of my non injured hand.

"Who?" Shizuo growled, his eyes narrowing "That bastard flea?" He asked, a vein throbbing on his head.

"No, not him, I thought it was but... Look, just forget it, it was nothing." I reached up and plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and popped it into my own mouth. I inhaled and choked instantly, spluttering wildly.

"You don't inhale the first time." Shizuo laughed ruffling my hair. "You just wasted a perfectly good cigarette." He scolded, stamping the cigarette out as it lay dejected and abandoned on the floor. I felt relatable to that cigarette, people you use then stamp you till your dead. Wait, what am I thinking? This must be some serious hormone imbalance if I am trying to relate to a cigarette of all things. I didn't actually realise that I was standing by the same spot for ages until Shizuo called out to me from down the street

"You going home or what? Tom called, I got to go in!" I dashed down the street towards him to catch up.

"Oh, well if you're not going home I might pop round to Shinra's to see Celty for a bit." I announced sort of spur of the moment.

"Yeah whatever." Shizuo said, turning to walked off but I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into a hug, it was more like hugging a tree, but I didn't really care.

"Rei, stop it, it's embarrassing," Shizuo muttered, looking away from me.

"Oooh, sorry to ruin your reputation tough guy." I shot back, laughing, but I did release him. "See ya later!" I called, turning on my heal and dashing down the road, Shinra's apartment wasn't far from here so I got there in record time.

I jumped up the stepped and rapped my knuckled on the door. I heard a flurry of footsteps and then the door was thrown wide open. The next think I knew, was that there was a massive black scythe held to my neck, which appeared to be coming from Celty. We regarded each other for a moment warily and then the scythe was gone and Celty was hugging me tightly.

"I'm so sorry!" Celty typed, shoving her phone in my face, "It's just that I thought that you were... never mind."

"No! Tell me!" I demanded, I was a naturally curious person, and so _naturally_ I wanted to know what made Celty react like that, or more likely, who?

It was Shinra who answered the question for me. "Celty says that she feels a sort of supernatural presence around here, and she is kinda worried that some humanoid girl is going to steal me away from her." Shinra's laugh was cut short as Celty jabbed him hard in the guts.

"Oww Celty!" Shinra whined, this was so typical of them. I sprawled out across their settee, chewing my nails, disinterested in their lovers tiff.

"No, no, please continue." I murmured under my breath.

"Yeah, and Celty thinks this person is to do with death." I jumped up at that.

"Hey, guess what happened to me then," I started off by telling them about the phonecall, and then I said something that I had only allowed myself to briefly believe

"...I thought it was Tomoko." I whispered, my eyes wide, "Because, she always loved to annoy me." I looked at the amusement in Shinra's face and ignored it, but Celty seemed to agree.

"Guys, she is _dead_ and anyway wouldn't she be hanging around Izaya and not us, seeing as he has a new girlfriend so I would have thought she would torment her, and anyway, if Tomoko is some kind of ghost, a. she would have done this ages ago, after all, she had been dead for a while, and b, she leaves the past. You guys just have over active imaginations."

I laughed shakily at his explanation. Yeah, he was right, but so was Celty, there was some kind of imbalance in the city.

The three of us continued to talk but I had the sudden urge to go and visit someone else, I needed to find out more about the phone call, no one threatens me and gets away with it.


	3. Confusion

A few days later.

I knocked angrily on the door to his apartment. I wanted answers and wanted them fast, I had a bad or good (depending on what way you see it) feeling that Izaya Orihara was somehow responsible for that prank call that I received, now you may be thinking that I am going overboard, which in a way, yes, I am, but I am taking it as a threat, seeing as it was on my personal phone, which hardly anyone has the number to, unfortunately Izaya does, so therefore he is one of my prime subjects in this. I decided that throwing my weight backwards against the door would probably open it up, so that was what I did, took three backwards running steps, and totally missed the door. I heard the creak of the door opening wider as I fell. Shit, that bastard knew I was going to do that. I hit the floor hard and winced as a spark of pain shot up my spine like a spark or electricity. I looked up to see Izaya Orihara looking down at me, humoured crimson eyes boring into my unimpressed grey ones, the same smirk that he always wore was in place. He offered me his hand to lift myself up with but I ignored him and scrambled up by myself rather ungracefully. I gritted my teeth as his soft, yet cold laugh filled the room. I hated that laugh, it was the bane of my school life.

"Nice of you to _drop_ by!" Izaya teased gesturing for me to sit down. "Akemi isn't here, but that doesn't mean you can try and seduce information out of me, I think you learnt your lesson last time you did that, aha~." In a flash I was up on my feet and inches from Izaya's face, I grabbed him by his shirt and rammed him hard against a wall, ignoring the click in his back from the force. I was pretty pissed off and I hadn't even been here for five minutes. This is one of the many vast reasons why I don't like Izaya Orihara.

"Ooh, feisty, didn't you just hear what I said?" He purred, I could feel his warm breath on my neck, it made me shudder in disgust, I didn't just hate the arrogance and over confidence of him, I detested it.

"You bastard, it was you that phoned me weren't it, WASNT IT!" I shook him wildly, I felt grippe by such a strong anger and I didn't know why, why was I taking this so damn far? Maybe it was because I didn't like threats but I think it was because something had made me feel tense, something I didn't know about, and I hated not knowing. Something strange was going on, something wasn't right.

"Nope, not me~" He sung, despite my choke hold on him.

"Ok then. I'm ask you three questions and you have to answer them, but I'm not paying for the answers because you don't deserve my money" I slowly released him and backed away from the wall.

"Question one, who did you give my phone number to?"

"No one, maybe it was taken~" He trilled his grin widening. I had the feeling he was anticipating this.

"Question two, who took it?" I hissed angrily, that goddamn grin was so annoying.

"You are really wasting these questions, all I am going to tell you is that it was some we both know." Izaya tormented. This was getting me nowhere, but this last question might give me a good idea...

"Question Three, is this person alive?" Izaya shot me a look that questioned my sanity and then burst out laughing, doubling over.

"Woaah! Rei-chan asks such stupid questions! But I will answer it, yes, the person is alive, obviously, I didn't give your phone number to your mother, oh and sorry about your loss, must have been hard to think she might have lived if you didn't put your precious beast before her~" He grinned, narrowing his eyes, challenging me to fight back.

I bit back a retort, It was better to piss him off in a different way, such as making him think that he was actually helpful, which he wasn't, I didn't want to think he had one if I lashed out. I dug my fingers into the palm of my hand, ignoring the sting of pain where I dug them in so tightly "Well, you have helped a lot more than you think, I'll be off now, bye bye!" I turned on my heel and waltzed out towards the door. My grand exit was ruined by the fact that I couldn't open the door and Izaya had to open it for me, but nonetheless I was feeling confident.

It was just as I stepped outside into the warm afternoon air of Shinjuku that my work phone buzzed in my pocket. I flicked it up and answered it.

"Suzuki Rei, how can I help?" I asked in my usual business telephone voice. There was a long pause, just the sound of breathing down the line, time wasters, I was about to hang up when the person on the other end finally spoke.

"Hey, er, could you drop by the Old Warehouse; Celty said she needs to give you something." The voice was soft and low, I had to strain to make out the words. I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the caller id, it was hidden, weird, Shinra would have phoned me on my other phone, or so I would have thought. I place the phone back against my ear, opening my mouth to speak, but all I could here was the beep beep beep in the back ground. I don't know how long I stood there, listening to that tone, when I was little that noise used to scare me, God knows why, but it just did. I was deep in thought, lost in it, something just didn't sound right, and something didn't feel right, something just wasn't right. But it was my nature to be curious, so despite, my brain nagging me to go home, go back to Shizuo; I ignored it and followed my guilty conscience. I shoved the small black phone back in my pocket, dragged a hand through my ebony bangs and then set out to the Old Warehouse.

The place had always given me the creeps; my childhood fear of the place was amplified when I had found out when I was about 12 that a few people had been murdered there. I used to fear dying so much, the foreverness and permanence of it all just scared me, just the feeling of dark going on and on and on and on and on and- yeah, and on. But I loved investigating things, especially gory things, I loved the psychology behind it but to be honest I probably needed a psychologists myself seeing as I got a twisted thrill out of a murder. I don't know if it was twisted disposition or my curious behaviour that led me to that rickety Warehouse, even If I was pretty certain that that wasn't Shinra on the phone, that I wouldn't be meeting Celty there, that I would be meeting something far worse. In my pocket I thumbed my butterfly knife, I was never much of a knife person, I had hated the way that Tomoko waved that knife around like she was the big I am, well she _was_. No, I didn't have a knife to kill, to slice or to stab; my knife was a tool, to cut things like string and tape. Don't judge. But today I was glad I had my knife, I had a feeling I might have to use it, for one use or another.

I came to a halt outside of the Warehouse, I looked up at it, it was a huge derelict building, no one really used it unless they were up to something illegal, I had been here a few times before, but I tried to avoid it if I could, actually I tried to avoid most of this part of town, it wasn't exactly what I would call safe, Shizuo would be pretty pissed off if he knew I was hanging around over.

Cautiously I poked my head around the door that was slightly ajar before opening it more, I used all of my strength and it still only budged an inch, I sucked in my breath and wiggled through the gap. Inside it was pretty dark, only a tiny dim bulb and the sliver of light from outside was all that light the place up. Quietly I tiptoed into the seemingly-deserted building, the thick silence shattered by the sound of my footsteps. I looked up at the bulb which decided to flicker like a warning light at me until it died. I stared into the blackness waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dark when I heard a soft voice, quiet but the sound had been amplified by the heavy silence and rebounding echo.

"I knew you would come." A cold, emotionless voice spoke a hundred times to me from all over the warehouse, I spun around, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from but it was impossible to tell.

"Who's there?" I called out, typical horror movie cliché, but it couldn't be helped.

"You already know." The voice said back almost instantly. I narrowed my grey eyes and looked around again, feeling suddenly colder inside, my blood felt as if it was slowly freezing, my heartbeat had frozen, I could no longer feel its throb in my mouth. The voice was correct, I did know who it was, Izaya had helped me figure it out.

"Oshiro." I spat, my eyes narrowing. The voice let out a bitter laugh.

"Do you like games?" The voice called out innocently. "Because I do, and even if you don't, you are already playing one right now. You are the castle on the chess board I think." The voice spoke to me again, this time it sounded closer behind me, Oshiro must have moved, but I didn't hear her footsteps. I gritted my teeth, another bitch that liked to play chess with real people; makes sense why Izaya picked this piece of scum, well to a degree, there was still somethings I was confused about.

"You know what? You are like Akiyama-san reincarnated." I taunted, I knew she didn't like Tomoko being mentioned, it must be a jealously thing, or maybe they knew each other, nonetheless, my goal was to piss her off.

"DON'T. Say her name." The voice shouted the angry comment flew around the room; I spun around trying to locate the speaker once more as the words bounced off the walls all around me.

"You are about to learn your lesson, Heiwajima Rei." The voice hissed, I didn't dare correct her this time "You better watch out, because I have you, like a child dangling a spider by its web, yeah, I have you alright. You will be fine for now, but you better forget about Tomoko Akiyama and you better stop meddling in my business, one day your curiosity will get you_ killed" _There was a loud back and I threw myself to the floor quickly, I felt something small and strong graze my shoulder and whizz past my ear. I felt the warmth of my blood spread across my shoulder and spatter onto the floor.

"Do I make myself clear? That shot was aimed to miss" The voice hissed. I didn't respond, I felt lightheaded and slightly enlightened, Akemi was a sharpshooter, I knew that much, I was sure of it. I had to find out more about her despite her warnings. I just had to, she had me more curious than ever, and I think that came from her apparent hate of Tomoko and the mystery surrounding her, after all, this chick practically appeared out of nowhere.

"She needs to be forgotten about, most people already have, just like she never existed, why do you hang onto someone by your hate when you could just let _go_, the world needs to let her go." I spun around and came face to face with Akemi Oshiro, her electric blue eyes sparking anger into my stormy grey ones, it was like a lightning storm. It was as she said that, that something felt like the atmosphere had changed, I shuddered, my head felt a bit cleared, but I would not forget. I don't follow orders. My mind burned and ached, but I managed not to cry out in pain. I really had felt some kind of intense pain when I had looked to her eyes.

My obsessive hate over people was what drove me onwards, It spurred me on, I couldn't live a life without hate. It was strange, but it was me, hate was my motivation, Tomoko, dead or alive, was my motivation, and I would not let her go, her soul would not rest in peace until I didn't need my motivation.

I got to my feet and went to leave, but paused. "I think I hate you even more than I hate her, and I barely know you," with that comment said, I left, squeezing my shoulder tightly, ignoring the deep red blood the crept out through my fingers, run down my hand and splattered onto the floor

I went to Shinra's where he patched me up, like he always did when I got involved with any scuffle. As he worked I told him about my encounter. I felt like I just had to.

"Oh, that's Izaya's fiancée right? Was she the one that went highschool with us?" I looked at him confused, what was he babbling on about, er yeah maybe she was his fiancée but she certainly didn't go to highschool with us.

"Noooo that was Tomoko Akiyama, who we were talking about the other day?" I hinted, raising an eyebrow at him. Seriously what the fuck was going on?

"Erm, you must be going mad, there was no Tomoko Akiyama that went Raira." Shinra insisted. I was a bit pissed off then and punched his arm angrily  
"Stop it Shinra, you are pissing me off, it isn't funny anymore."

"Ouch! I'm not trying to be funny, you're the one with imaginary friends! Come on, you must have known Akemi in highschool, you even had a fight with her over Shizuo." Shinra laughed as he tied the bandage. I bared my teeth, my head hurt from my confusion

"Fine I'll prove it." I grabbed my phone and rung Izaya, three beeps and he answered.

"Orihara Izaya how can I-" I cut him off mid sentence; I needed to know what the hell was going on.

"Tell me, Izaya for the sake of mine and Shinra's debate, what was the name of your girl best friend in Highschool?" I heard him laugh down the other end

"You really have a thing about me dontcha Rei-chan, not getting jealous again are we?" He paused to laugh "Akemi Oshiro of course, you should know that, you-" I let my phone drop to the floor where the call disconnected itself. What was going on here, why- why had everyone forgotten Tomoko? Not I don't think she was forgotten, I think she was replaced. Everything that she had Lived for had been replaced by Akemi Oshiro, Tomoko was never born and she never died, because Akemi Oshiro had taken over.

Akemi's voice floated into my head "'the world needs to let her go'" and suddenly it all made sense.

_This task is draining; do you think you can do it?_

_Of course I can, this is me after all. What's my reward?_

_A Human life._

_Well now, that is a most definite deal._

_**Yep, it will all be explained, promise, but for now, I shall leave you on a cliff hanger. **_


	4. Understanding

_I had never felt better, I would train every day, my abilities had gotten stronger because of it, and for once, I felt truly happy with myself, I felt powerful, but now... now I feel drained. I had slept for ages, months, I didn't look down on Earth, I didn't know what was going on, but I felt so strange, like half my heart had been torn out, like someone really heavy was sitting on my chest, crushing me. I felt crushed, I felt empty, I felt drained and...I felt lonely. I longed to look down on Ikebukuro, but I was so damn tired I couldn't even switch the computer on. I looked down at my hand, I looked slightly transparent. I think I am dying for a second time, but I don't even know if it is possible, all I know is that I am slipping away, no, I'm fading. I need to reach my computer I need to see them, my humans, my city, but my arm is like lead. I need to sleep..._

Akemi Oshiro. That is the name I have been given, it is the name I use, whether I like it or not, it is who I am. It means, on the whole, Beautiful Castle, well, at least something along those lines. I find it quiet ironic, for I am not a beautiful person, maybe I am on the outside, but on the inside... well, that is a debatable matter, all I know is that I do not agree that my name's meaning suits me. I was born here in Japan, in the city of Hino. My life has been normal in my personal view. I went to school, I had a few friends, I did my work and sometimes I got in trouble. I don't really live much in my past, but as we are on the subject of such a thing, I shall elaborate a little more. Why I got in trouble, is what you may ask, and this is what I remember. It was for things I said, things that little children or even grown adults were supposed to say. I don't remember what I said that got people all worked up, I do remember having to talk to a very formal looking woman about why I thought that way. I later found out she was a child psychologist. I can tell you now, that I was not and am not a psychopath. I was just a confused child. I never really spoke much either, that was another thing that I remember, to be truthful, I do not remember a lot of things, but I am good at making people forgot. Forget the hurt, forget the pain. The emotion of 'love' brings people a lot of pain as I learnt that it comes in many different forms. Friendship, Family and Romance to name a few, I have met a few people recently, people I feel that I care for, that I have a tad of warmth for in this icy carven of a heart. I made them forget the hurt, by making the hurt non-existent. I don't like sad people, I don't like mad people, but I don't like truly happy people. Maybe I just don't like people.

I moved to Ikebukuro not very long ago, maybe 5 years or so. I am a naturally quiet person, I am disinterested in joining the hustle and bustle of the city, I am more of an observant type, I like to read into people's actions, I like things like that. It was about 6 months ago that I met Izaya Orihara. He looked like he was in pain, so I healed him. I knew he was only using me at first, but that was ok, because I knew in the end he would love me, they all love me in the end, as long as I apply to their best nature, act how they want me to act, everything always works out. I am an adaptable being, an adaptable _human_ being, excuse me. It didn't take long for him to love me, or show me love, as that would be a better way to describe it, because I don't think Orihara-san is capable of loving anyone in the way that they would want to be loved by someone. But my mission, my goal in life, isn't to be loved, after all, I am not here solely to please people, whatever way you take that phrase, I am here to learn. I like to learn and I personally believe life is one big learning curve, you can never learn enough and you can ever learn it all, but you can also never learn nothing at all. That to me is what is truly amazing, though I am not sure that everyone will agree. Like I just stated, it is my personal belief, maybe my personal belief alone.

That is basically the summing up of my short life so far. There is still a lot more for me to learn, and that is what I love to do, learn. Even if I do not love, I do have some love for the art of learning. I learn a lot when I read; I read a lot of things, books, emotions, meanings and feelings. It is what I do. It is what I am.

I would also like to clarify that I dyed my hair platinum blonde; I was not born like that. I wished to stand out when I moved here, so that is why I did that. My natural hair colours is in fact a dark brown colour. Nothing special. I told you, whoever is listening to this right now, about that as I thought you yourself would like to learn something about me, about why I did the things I do. But maybe I am incorrect on that matter and you do not wish to learn anything about me. But either way, I did that for your own clarity, to give you some insight in to who I am. What I am.


	5. Reminsing

"_In the rare event I do fail this task, what will become of me?"_

"_You will fade into an abyss of oblivion, never to return. Make this count"_

Ok, so, maybe a tad stalkerish, but when I was in highschool, I liked to know everything about everyone, and I sort of kept folders on people. Now, yes you may all be thinking that that is really weird, and yeah, ok it is, and that is only because it is for my own gain, after all, I am now a Private Detective, and you could basically say that it is my own little database of, in my eyes, offenders. People that have done something to me, or others or just people that I keep tabs on. Now, if I remember rightly, Tomoko Akiyama was one of the first people to join this select group. I think she was the reason I started this whole investigative lifestyle, she inspired me through my darkest emotions, well that is if she existed.

I guess this was the only way to prove it. I waited until Shizuo went out to work, no one had called for me today yet so I had the day to myself. I sat down in my office bit of our house, just a small room with a desk a computer and endless folders and files, CD's, paper, the lot, and began to dig around in a really old, falling apart, moth eaten cardboard box. It was labelled "Raijin Days," it was my very first project, in here contained every outdated school secret going, yes, I know, it was a bit stalkerish, but hey, no one said I was normal. I must admit, looking though some of the old files, It was funny looking back at what I thought were "the biggest scandals going", but you do view things differently when you are younger. In every file of every person, there was a picture of that person, and that is what I was looking for. Why not just look in the yearbooks? Well, none of us brought them, there wasn't a single yearbook for our year, I think there was some sort of fight about it all or something.

I finally got to the "A" section and found what I was looking for, a dog eared booklet of papers, about Tomoko Akiyama, I flipped it to the first page and there she was, baseball bat in hand, expression hard and angry, her eyes alive and her caramel hair flying in the wind as she swung the bat at the oncoming ball. I remember when this picture was taken...

_I stood on the roof of the school, it was late, the afterschool club sort of time, but I was watching, watching where she sneaked off to, what she did. She was a very interesting person, a very strange person, someone who I hated and respected. She was cold and manipulative and a devil and I was desperate to get back at her for all the shit she has ever put my through, it sickened me the way she always came up on top of everyone else, I hated the way everyone thought she was so damn _great _so I made it my mission to find out a few of her secrets and make her hurt the way she hurt me, I wasn't a revengeful or resentful person, but she made me both. That Is why I was standing on the roof as the sunset. _

"_Throw it harder or I'll use your head instead of the ball!" Her angry voice cracked the silence of the evening like a ball cracking a glass window. I turned around to see the narcissistic bitch standing on the sports field, a metal silver bat in her hands, her expression dark and her eyes bright with anger. Something or someone had pissed her off. I squinted a little to see who she was talking too, maybe it was Izaya, but I doubted he would want to spent his evening with a pissed off Tomoko, no, that wasn't it..._

"_For fuck sake, you're meant to be strong! Throw it like you mean it! Throw it like you're throwing a brick at Izaya-kun!" her voice shouted again, I could see her waving the bat around. Man, she looked pissed about something, it really wasn't like her._

_That was when I realised she was talking to Shizuo and I could feel the jealousy bubbling away inside of me. I grabbed my phone, deciding that maybe the best way to get at her was through her friend, and I was sure Izaya wouldn't have been too happy about seeing her with Shizuo. I snapped a picture, but I wasn't a great photographer and had totally cut Shizuo out of the picture. I was busy putting my phone away in my pocket when I heard an almighty CRACK and felt a massive whoosh of air, I looked up to see the ball flying at my face, I couldn't do anything apart from throw my hand in front of my face. The ball connected to my wrist with such a force that I was thrown backwards and hit the concrete of the roof; I heard the sickening crunch of my wrist and knew it was broken._

"_That's what happens." I could hear her voice floating hauntingly up to me. I remember thinking about how much I wished she was dead, before blacking out._

This was all the proof I had needed, I knew that there was another picture Shinra and Izaya had, it was of her standing on their shoulders with a big smug smile on her face, I was the one who took that picture, that was back when I was her friend, but I had a photo so there was no need to go looking for that. Now all I had to do was find out more about this "Akemi Oshiro". I need to know I am not hallucinating this whole situation, I really don't understand what's going on

_I need to see what's going on, I have managed to drag myself to my computer to see what was going on, I saw Rei...I heard her conversation with Celty and with that Akemi...I need to speak to Rei...I- what's going on with me, with the world, why is everything so upside - down_


	6. Insomnia

_Despite being so drained, my enhanced abilities could still be used. That was how I began to dream-jump, my pride, after viewing the unfolding events on Earth, was shattered like a glass as after all, I was a naturally proud person, so it wasn't like I gave a shit about the fact that it was _her_ dreams, of all peoples, that I jumped into. _

It was late, or early, take your pick. At 3am, a sleep deprived me decided that I would post-pone my research on Oshiro until the next day, or the next, or the next, why was I so damn interested? People just happened to forget Tomoko, and muddle both the bitches together. It just also happens that Oshiro tried to kill me, but so what? Both events haven't got anything to do with each over. Why am I doing this? Do I never learn my lesson? Exhausted, I switched my computer off, yawned and placed my head on the keyboard for a millisecond just to inspect some crumbs stuck in between the keys from where I eat and drink over my laptop, and I guess I must have fallen asleep.

_It was dark, so dark that I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face. I shuddered. The darkness was thick and heavy, the silence was unbearably loud, but the shattering sound of it was so soft and quiet._

"_Rei-Chan?" A weak voice called out my name. I spun, not sure what direction I was even facing, but I was looking for the voice, the whole situation reminded me of that day back in the warehouse and I found my hand clutching tightly to my shoulder, shielding it. Could it be possible that it was Akemi speaking to me?_

"_Wrong!" The voice hissed the words so cold that a shudder shimmied down my spine. I bit my tongue as I jumped away from the voice, which sounded as if it was coming from right in front of me. I tripped over my own foot and found myself falling backwards, and falling and falling into the abyss, falling and falling and falling and – and a hand grabbed my wrist, the person pulling me was strong, I tried to squint through the fog of black to see who had a hold of me, as I leant forward, the person grabbed my face and head butted me hard. I felt as if some just hit me across the head with a hammer, I heard a high pitched ringing in my ears and everything went a grey colour for a few endless seconds._

"_Wake up!" The voice said, though it sounded as if the words were being said underwater, they were blurred and fuzzed, though that may be due to my hearing. "Find out!"_

I gasped for air, and found myself staring u at the overly bright screen of my computer, I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the whole incident was just a dream but I could have sworn that my head was still thumping as if it really was hit with such an impact as that of being head butted by someone who had a head as equally hard as a brick wall. I took a swig of the cold coffee that stood alone on my desk, cringing at the bitter taste but grateful for it at the same time. I glanced at the clock, 5:41 am. Great. No point in going back to sleep. I reached to turn on my computer when I realised properly for the first time that it was on and the screen was the current light source lighting up the little study room. I could have sworn that I had turned it off, no, I HAD turned it off. With reluctance I looked at the screen more closely. The internet was up and on google, the search bar filled with only five words

Who is Akemi Oshiro really?

I gulped, deleting three of the words and leaving only her name, I stared hard at the keyboard before letting my index finger drop down on the enter button.

Instantly thousands of results came up, but next to none of them actually useful , I was probably 54 odd pages into my research and not far off of giving up. After all, I had nothing more than a hunch and a bad dream for a reason to even fuel this investigation, when I had even more important cases to be looking into.

"Should I be doing this?" my conscience remained stubbornly silent, it looked like I was on my own. I placed my attention back to my computer screen, my grey eyes burned from a mixture of sleep deprivation and the blinding light from my illuminated computer screen. I squinted, trying to protect my eyes from the light, when my eyes caught sight of a seemingly unrelated link to a website which caught my attention.

A and O murders. The truth to the unsolved case.

Putting the words "Murder" and "Unsolved case" together means you are practically begging for my attention, so I gave that webpage me full attention.

"Who is AO? No one exactly knows much about the set of serial killings and assassinations that took place in 1970 through to 1977, all that is know is that every victim, which happens to be a male, was seeing a woman who's first initial starts with A and first initial of the last name starts with O, making this case dubbed as the AO murders. "AO" has a different name each time and killed her victims but shooting them multiple times with a range of different guns before taking the bullets and leaving. She left no evidence and is believed to be the woman found hanging next to the body of the final victim Saga Kaii. The female, believed to be AO, was unidentified. No one knew who she was.

AO was a sharpshooter and killed either cleanly with a bullet through the heart or head or she went overkill.

Do you know who AO is?"

Below was a picture of a girl, chestnut hair and blue eyes. My heart stopped.


	7. Resentment

1 am the next morning was when the knocking started. It had woken me from my sleep and at first I thought it was nothing, floorboards and water pipes and what have you. But after about the 5h knock knock knock, I was getting pretty freaked out. The doorbell also started ringing after a few minutes. Knock, ring, knock, ring, the creepy sort, persistent and ominous. It really did chill my blood. During the whole ordeal, Shizuo remained asleep. At first I had decided to just ignore it and go back to sleep, but after a while, I was truly terrified.

"Shi-"My trembling voice was easily blotted out by another series of bangs on the front door. I shuddered and pressed myself closer to Shizuo, squeezing my eyes tight shut.

"SHIZUO!" I shouted a whisper, shaking his shoulder as hard as I could. The noise processed to get louder and more frequent. I felt another shudder creep down my spine, by this time I was in a cold sweat and had a sick feeling deep down in the pit of my stomach, but I had managed to wake Shizuo at last.

"Huh... Rei, you woke me up, what is it?" Shizuo grumbled as he propped himself up with his elbow, sounding mildly annoyed. I didn't have to answer that, the knocking on the door did that for me. I just gulped and snuggled up closer to Shizuo, breathing in his warm smell. Gently he shook me off of him.

"I'll go check it out, that bastard won't know what's hit him, until it hits him!" Shizuo growled, sounding more and more pissed off by the second. He slipped out of the bed and I could hear his loud footsteps getting fainter as he disappeared off down the stairs. I screwed my eyes up tighter as I heard him unlock the latch, holding my breath as I heard him open the door.

"Alright you bastard that's it! I'm gonna-"His angry voice broke off for a few seconds and I was deafened by the overbearing sound of silence, I choked on the air in my lungs, terrified of what was happening downstairs. Those three seconds seemed like a millennium as I waited for them to pass, but then; just as I couldn't take it anymore, Shizuo's voice broke the silence, this time sounding more unstable and shaky and scared more than angry, almost like his voice was breaking.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" He shouted, the house wobbling. I couldn't stand it no more and threw myself out of the warm safety of the bed and stumbled down the stairs as fast as I could, falling down the last three. I rounded the corner, crashing to a stop into the back of Shizuo, I peeked around from behind him to see who, or what was at the door.

My heart stopped for the second time that week.

_It wasn't possible, no, it wasn't right, it wasn't natural, IT WASNT HAPPENING_

"Step aside; I have come here to see Suzuki-san." Her bold, accented voice announced. She was still the same as I remembered, short, waist-length wild toffee coloured hair that tumbled down her small back in crazy layers, bangs that were way too long and yet were still allowed to cascade freely down into her eyes, her bright maroon eyes that were so alive. That same pale pink jumper that hung loosely off of her chest and the tight jogging bottoms that clung to her curves. Such a mismatched looking girl as that could only be one person.

"Akiyama Tomoko..." I whispered, feeling the blood draining from my fast as I looked at her as she leaned coolly against the inside of my door. In a quick succession of steps she had crossed the threshold and was inches away from my face, those deep maroon eyes boring into my dull grey ones. Her hands snatched my bony wrists and held them so tightly that it hurt.

"...But your_ dead _are you a ghost?" I breathed quietly, breaking her gaze by looking past her and at Shizuo, who looked ready to faint.

Tomoko regarded me for a second, her mind ticking about how she was going to play this little game.

"Dead, yes, dead as a doornail is me, but a ghost? Ha, nope no way." She said breezily, dropping my crushed wrists from her grasp. I felt a flicker of anger cross through me, how dare she just waltz in here like she owns the place, I found myself raising my hand, ready to slap that smirk right off of her face, but Shizuo grabbed my arm, his eyes begging me not to do anything rash. I sighed.

"I promise I will answer all of your questions if you can do me three big favours. One being that you letting me see that webpage you were reading, regarding a certain someone. I need to see it with my own eyes and not yours." I felt puzzled by her words but didn't ask, I would ask later, when I agreed to this deal, if I agreed to this deal.

"The second being that you letting me stay here for the remainder of the nigh and the third...er, well, give me some food." She finished abruptly by pushing past me and walking into the main room, throwing herself down on the sofa. Shizuo and I looked at each other and sighed.

"No!" I shouted angrily

"Yes!" Shizuo agreed.

I bit my tongue, annoyed at how he just agreed to this idea. I made a mental note to myself that if Izaya ever needed a place to stay, that he would be _very_ welcome to here.

"I don't think he would come here." Tomoko said with a laugh, breaking my thoughts.

"Did you just..." I began

"Read your mind, yeah." She said, flashing me one of her shark smiles. I sighed, great, could it get any better?

"Yep, it really can," Tomoko said again. I soon learnt that I had to be careful of what I thought around her.

"Why are you really-" I began, but was soon cut off.

"No food, no answers." She grinned at me again and that desire to slap her came back again, a lot stronger than before, but I managed to fight it back.

"The kitchen is opposite. Help yourself." I muttered.

She really did help herself. I had only done my shopping the day before, he cupboards, which were full at the start of the evening, were now completely empty, the same going for the fridge.

Stuffed silly, she sprawled back out across the sofa and sighed.

"Ok. Ask away." She muttered.

"What are you?" Was the first thing I asked.

"Angel of death and life. A neutral creature that ends lives and manipulates the future, I also collect souls." She said with a shark grin.

"Why are you here?" I fired back

"To reclaim what is mine." She said proudly.

"What is yours?" I asked

"You know the answer to that already." She sighed, lying back and getting herself comfortable. Now that she said that, I guess I did know the answer, what else could it have been?

"Who is Akemi Oshiro?" I asked, my eyes narrowed. Tomoko shot upwards, her eyes flashing and a creepy smile spreading across her face.

"That is why I am here; I need your laptop and Shizuo's email login." She clapped her hands, jumping up staring through me with cold eyes; I could have sworn my soul stirred in that moment. I complied to her order and brought the laptop down. I glanced over at Shizuo who reluctantly typed his password in and handed the computer over to Tomoko who stared hard at the screen for a few minutes.

"Ok. Just as I thought. Are you ready to hear this?" She asked her eyes narrowed, her head tilted to the side. I took a deep breath and gave her a quick nod.

"Akemi Oshiro is the psychopath behind the AO murders. It was her body that was found all those years ago. Akemi Oshiro is a demon, her job is to claim souls, like me, but she uses them for power, for control, in short, she is evil. Coming from me, sounds kinda ironic don't you think? But that is what she is. She has been sent here to kill and claim the soul of Izaya Orihara, although this order first came from Satan himself, Mr Strongman over here had also put in the requested for his assassination. Shizuo was feeling pretty pride less at the time and well that would have been the perfect solution, the end of all his problems, ne? But seeing as I am the one entitled to the souls over here, in particular Orihara-sans, seeing as he is also to end up in Purgatory with me when he dies, Oshiro-san had to deal with me, by wiping everyone's memories of me and replacing me with herself. Basically you are to believe that it was her who was here all this time, basically, I never existed, only it didn't work completely, Rei didn't forget, allowing me to dream jump into this world. Oshiro has been draining me of all my energy, if she didn't, she would be drained herself. I am here to take her soul and send her to oblivion as well as return everybody of their memories. She plans to kill Izaya tomorrow and she is aware of my presence. She has to kill us both in order to succeed, so Rei Suzuki, if you will, can you help me find her before it is too late? I wouldn't normally ask for help, especially from you, so please understand that this has taken a lot on my behalf." She finished up, her eyes glistening, her voice soft and her face dark.

I thought about it. "Would you help me save Shizuo, if it were the other way around?" I saw the pain flicker across her face, and felt smug. I even have an angel begging for my help.

"She already has." Shizuo interrupted, looking sheepish. I turned to look at him sharply, confused and annoyed that he had flawed my plan.

"Rei, do you, remember when those blue square bastards came up to office and tried to kill me, but I escaped through the window? Yeah, well er, that was Tomoko."

I turned back to look at Tomoko, who had a smug smirk on her face. I sighed.

"Ok. I'll help you."


	8. Pity

"I have two more questions for you." I stated plainly to a very bored looking Tomoko Akiyama who was now lying flat on her back on the floor which her eyes half closed and filing her nails to stubs with that flick blade of hers. She gave a tiny nod and put her knife down.

"Ask away." She said ,boredly studying the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing to do since watching paint dry.

"How come Shizuo remembered you when he saw you?" I asked, pleased that I had come up with a good question as the look on Tomoko's face told me she was actually considering how she was going to answer.

"Hm, probably just remembered when he saw me, I think that is how it works." She mumbled, disinterested once again.

"So Izaya only has to see you then?" I said.

"I don't think it will be as easy as that. Although she didn't plan for this, I do think she thought ahead when it came to her little prize." She lamented, rolling over. That was when I noticed her back for the first time. Her jumper and shirt had rode up a bit, revealing her back, which was covered in lines, pink criss crossed scars, some big and thick and small and thin, but they were everywhere and they looked sore.

"Tomoko!" I yelped "Your back...it's all..." I began

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, it's just where I am weaker in the moment, old scars come back, well, they were always there, just not while I am all angel like. I'm like a tiger who earned its stripes" She laughed at her own joke and bared her teeth at me.

"How did it happen?" I asked, mesmerized by the series of cuts.

"Oh, I had this alcoholic stepfather who got angry when he was drunk. He let that anger out on me, a lot. That's why I skipped PE sometimes. I didn't want people to think I was weak. I'm not weak though. I got them back after I moved out, after he tried to kill me, I burnt that son of a bitch and that pathetic excuse for a mother's house down and let their arses fry." She had started the first bit embarrassed but the last bit triumphant with a sick smile on her face. I gulped.

"So is that why you lived with Izaya? I thought..." I let my sentence end there as I wasn't too sure how to proceed with it.

"I thought it was only meant to be two questions." She laughed a harsh laugh "Yeah, a lot of people thought that you would have ended your sentence as." She sighed "you know what Rei? The Earth is such a breathtakingly beautiful place but the world is ugly" Tomoko let her chin rest on the floor and fell asleep before I could ask her what she meant by that.

It was then that I felt I understood her a lot more. Of course, no one could actually ever understand someone like her, she was an enigma, but I think I understood, just a tiny bit, how she felt about people in general, the world and everything else. Although she only scraped through highschool, she was really intelligent, in a philosophic sense; she knew a lot about psychology too, which was what made her so manipulative. She was so beautiful on the outside and so dark and confused on the inside, a true conflicting person. If I were her, I think I would be scared of myself.

The throbbing pain in my ribs was what woke me the next morning, angry maroon eyes inches from mine was what made me wide awake, or maybe it was the fact I jumped and head butted Tomoko, who I learnt had a very thick skull and was completely unhurt while I was biting back tears of pain.

"Urgh, my head! Don't do that to me! You scared me half to death!" I grumbled groggily, getting up out of bed and padding towards the bathroom.

After a quick shower and a scrub of my teeth, I was finally ready for my day of carting the girl I hate around Ikebukuro. But the second that thought had entered my head, I found myself questioning if I really did hate her, after all, it is hard to hate someone who you pity, and last night I had found myself pitying her. No, I didn't hate Akiyama, though she was a giant bitch.

"Car keys!" I could hear her voice shouting from down the stairs, its usual sharp edge in place . I sighed and dashed down the stairs, my ebony hair falling into my eyes as I ran.

"Tomoko, no offense, but did you ever learn how to drive?" I bit back a smug smile. I knew she hadn't, but she remained unfazed as she answered with a massive grin,

"No but I am about to."

That was when her phone rang. With narrowed eyes, Tomoko studied the screen on the mobile before answering.

"Akiyama." She stated, and then there was a pause. "I am very aware of that," her tone had sharpened. There was another long pause and then Tomoko spoke again, or more precisely , she shouted. "Сука!" which I am guessing isn't something nice, and then ended the phone call by launching the phone at the wall, where it broke and fell on the floor, she then marched up to it and crushed the remainder of it with her heel.

"Tomoko!" I yelled, reaching out to grab her before she could damage my poor house anymore, but she just spun around and stalked off, grabbing the car keys from the table and walking out the house, slamming the door behind her. I was hot on her heels, but only just made it to the car as she was revving the engine.

"Have you driven before?" I asked worriedly, I really didn't want my new car to be wrote off before I even got to enjoy it, but she just assured me airily that she had done it "loads of times" and was a natural, not needing any lessons. I just gulped and did my seatbelt up.

If you have ever been in a car with Saburo and Kyohei, then you know what dangerous driving is, but this, this was nothing compared to Saburo. Tomoko drove like she was on a suicide mission. She pushed the car into "drive" and floored the pedal. My car let out a screech and then took off, leaving only the smell of burning rubber and some dust in its wake. Tomoko was driving well over the speed limit, weaving in and out of the slow cars like a dog whipping through poles in dog agility. I just gulped and closed my eyes.

"I've got to get to the park, and I'm going to take some shortcuts I discovered on my many parkour escapes. Sit tight" Was all she said as she rounded a corner at about 50 miles an hour, only just making the turn and slightly losing control. My car let out a cry of anguish before accelerating. I was definitely sure she was trying to kill me by this point, because it was then, that I noticed the slight ramp, the wall, and realised that on the other side of the wall, we were only two streets away from the park.

"DONT YOU DARE!" I screamed hugging myself tightly.

Tomoko floored the pedal, the tires screamed and the car rocketed forward. In a few quick seconds we were up the ramp. We hit the tip. The car began to turn. It flipped. It turned once, twice, two and a half times before it landed nose first. I closed my eyes convinced that I was going to die, and then, we landed. I don't know how we did it, the car rocked uneasily but we did it.

"YOU BITCH YOU-"I started, ready to knock Tomoko out, but she had already fled the car, I could she her distorted figure dashing off through the crack in the window screen. I sighed, flew open the door and took chase.

I wasn't the one to catch her. Simon was. When I arrived he was dangeling her from the hood of her jumper, scolding her.

"To-mok-o! I know you go to fight, you have the look of murderer on your face, fighting always bad! Angry make you hungry, you eat at Russia sushi , you no longer angry." But it seemed that the peaceful approach didn't work on Tomoko.

"выпускать из рук!" She hissed, flailing her legs in an attempt to kick poor Simon. I jsut sighed and shook my head, clueless to what she was saying, but I am guessing it was to do will being put back down.

"Нет" Simon said, shaking his large head. Tomoko let out another growl and wiggled out of the jumper, leaving Simon staring at the empty jumper. The second her feet touch the ground she was haring off again, towards the park.

"FIGHTING ALWAYS BAD!" Simon shouted after Tomoko. I gave my head another shake and took off after her, towards the park. When I finally got there, Tomoko was already staring across the park at Akemi with looks that could kill.

"So we meet at last, Akiyama." Akemi hissed, her icy eyes narrowed.

"So we do, Oshiro." Tomoko purred, giving the platinum blonde a nod.

So here I was, in the middle of a showdown between two psychotic, bitchy girls who were actually supernatural beings and about to fight over a certain Shinjuku Informants soul. What could possibly go wrong?

A/N:

Russian Translation:

Bitch.

Let go.

No.


	9. Fear

"Here she is, the little dog, always comes running in to rescue her master like she is such a good little dog. You make me sick." Akemi spat, glaring at Tomoko, giving her a grin that dared her to argue back. Dare or no dare, Tomoko wouldn't back down that easily, she isn't the sort of girl you can walk all over, who will back down, Akemi seemed like she was the same.

Tomoko just gave her a polite smile back, "Woaah! Big words coming from the school slut. You don't know me, but I know you, I know what you are. A whore. Just a sad girl who slept around to get herself popular, a sick little psycho that later grew up to kill the men she slept with. " Her words spoken so softly and yet were delivered so venomously. Like some sort of poisoned honey. Both girls knew that they had equalled each other out., they had sized each other up and now they were ready for business.

"Say, Akiyama-san, is it not boring that there is only one person to kill each other over? Why not spice it up a bit, make this battle _livelier_ more _entertaining_. How about this, If I win, I will kill Rei Suzuki, Shizuo Heiwajima and Izaya Orihara in front of you and take their souls before killing you. If you win, you can have my soul and your friends will live, everyone will remember you again. And oh, if I win, Ikebukuro will be mine, what with you and Izaya dead."

Tomoko grinned at her, a sick grin that made my stomach flip, why did I always get dragged into these things?

"That is most definitely a deal."

Akemi gave a small laugh. "Why are you here anyway dog? These matters do not concern you, after all, you are supposed to be fretting about the little humans of Ikebukuro and Orihara-kun is from Shinjuku, now what will you do, you bad little doggy?" Akemi cocked her head, her ice blue eyes staring straight into Tomoko's purple ones. I could practically hear Tomoko's brain working in the heavy silence, and, after a few seconds, she reacted.

"Yeah, you are right, I may be bad, but I am perfectly good at it." She gave a sad smile and slumped her shoulders, turning as if to walk away. "Bad dogs like me never stick to rules, rules are to be broken." She spun around and rushed and Akemi, performing an amazing butterfly kick and aiming for her head, if that kick made contact, Akemi's neck would surely be broken, but what happened next was so fast and unexpected, if I had blinked, I surely would have missed it. There was a loud whooshing sound and a flash of black, then there was a sickening crunch and Tomoko was thrown down on the ground at me feet. She wiped her face and staggered to her feet, amethyst-like eyes slits.

"Why not do this properly, I hate fighting like a human when I am so much more." Akemi had changed; two huge leathery black bat-like wings were arched above her head, her cold eyes staring at Tomoko, daring her yet again. I studied her closely, she had a tiny red skirt on now, and a black belly top, on her wrists were two bracelets, one on each wrist, little spikes poking out of the material. I gulped as she flicked that tiny little arrow-point tail that had appeared from nowhere, Tomoko was utterly serious when she had called Oshiro a demon.

"If you wish." There was yet another whooshing sound as two feathery wings had sprouted from Tomoko's shoulder blades. Her wings were bigger in height but smaller in width, one was black and one was white, she was now wearing a grey baseball jacket and blue high waisted shorts. It seemed that the pair had their own colour scheme going on. Red and black and Grey and Blue. I looked closer at Tomoko's bracelets, which were always on her wrists, I had always known that they were chainless handcuffs, but now they looked bigger and a darker grey. I looked down at Tomoko's feet, grey and blue trainers. I looked from one girl to the other, and couldn't help but compare them. Both were very beautiful, but they had different types of beauty. Akemi Oshiro had a neat beauty, tidy and perfected, everything just so, whilst Tomoko had an untamed wild beauty, her crazy hair all over her face and her more tomboyish clothes, the styles that seemed only right for her. Akemi was a lot of bite and not so much bark, whilst Tomoko was more bark than bite, though she bites to kill. Theyw ere so similar and so different, I felt captivated.

In Tomoko's hand trailed and long grey sword, studded with aquamarine crystals, whilst Akemi's sword was pitch black, studded with rubies.

"Ready to die for a second time, little puppy?" Akemi said with a little pout

"Ready to burn in hell, bitch?" Tomoko countered, clenching her teeth.

I watched them both closely from a distance, and the look on Akemi's face told me that she had an idea, and idea to piss Tomoko off.

"You know, you are so loyal for a stray dog, always coming back after being abandoned, first your parents, then Izaya and your friends, how long will it take for you to realise that...no one loves you." Sweet venom dripped out of the words, and it only took one look at Tomoko to know that Akemi had hit the mark. I looked again into those Maroon eyes and noticed they were blank, her expressions unreadable, it was a look I had seen before. Tomoko's mind had become inbalanced, she was in a dark mindset, Akemi had plunged her into psychosis, as she was going to pay the price.

"Oh. You do realise that almost everybody likes dogs?" Tomoko said with a cheeky grin "I can understand why, but you... well, they must be brainwashed to love someone as vile as you, beauty is only skin deep, but ugly is to the bone. Heard that one a few times haven't you? You make me as sick as a dog just looking at you, I'm glad being a slag isn't contagious." She stood back with a triumphant smile, Akemi scowled and darted forward like a flash of lightning, sword aimed right at Tomoko's arm, if the blow had made contact, Tomoko would have been one arm down, but she defelcted the blow with the handcuff link, then sprung back.

"You have quiet good reflexes, but you best hope you can fly fast, after all, if I make it to the roof of Izaya's apartment before you do, all your little friends go bye-bye."

Tomoko grinded her teeth, and swung the heavy sword at Akemi's neck, but the platinum blonde just sprung away, deflecting the blow with her own sword. Sparks flew and both of the girls sprung upwards, gliding in the sky slightly, Tomoko flew, at Akemi again, this time her hard punch made contact with her face, Akemi grabbed her arm, twisting it harshly. I knew what would come next, Tomoko flipped her weight hard into Akemi, knocking the both off balance, Tomoko took this window of opportunity to slice at Akemi, only slightly catching the side of her face, drawing blood from the wound. Akemi let out a growl, grabbing Tomoko by her throat and throttling her, yes, Tomoko didn't necessarily need to breath, but this time around she did, she was weak where Akemi had drained her energy, air was vital. Akemi raked her pointed sharp nails down Tomoko's cheeks, blood flowed red and fast down her face, but she couldn't fight back. Akemi gave her a shove, releasing her and sending Tomoko tumbling downward, but at the last possible second, Tomoko grabbed a handful of silver hair, dragging Akemi out the sky with her, both girls hit the ground, Akemi took both the full force of hitting the ground and Tomoko's added weight, there was an unhealthy crunch and then they were both up again, swinging their swords as they sprung up skywards, both travelling in the general direction of Shinjuku. Tomoko had come off the worst, blood pouring down her high cheekbones, her legs scraped and also bloody. Akemi had a swollen jaw, and a fast trickle of blood slipping down her cheek. I took chase, following them as quickly as I could. They disappeared out of sight for a minute, and then I saw them again, both stabbing wildly at each other. They were almost there now, Tomoko was ahead, when a large glint on silver caught my eyes, falling fast from the sky, I leapt to the side, only to narrowly miss being impaled by Tomoko's sword, wait, Tomoko's sword?! I looked back sky wards; Akemi had Tomoko in a death grip, trying to snap her neck with her bare hands, but Tomoko resisted, managing to get her hands up hit a hard punch round Akemi's face. Akemi let out a screech, let go of Tomoko, drew her long sword and before either could react, stabbed her hard through her right wing, the white one and sent her tumbling downwards, Akemi raced ahead, not looking back.

Maybe if she had looked back, she would have finished Tomoko off, but Akemi was overconfident, landing neatly on the ground, back to human form and slowly walking up the steps. I felt a sting in my eyes for a second, but then I heard a familiar voice.

"That bitch did me a favour, I hate the bloody things sticking out of my shoulder blades, they are fucking heavy as well, god I feel like a damned bird with those feathers attached to me." I looked up to see Tomoko grinning at me from the top of a balcony, hanging on the railings with one had casually. She gave me that shark smile, screwing up her eyes and revealing a row of pointy white teeth. She jumped down, landing with cat-like perfection on the balcony below

"I hate being underestimated, and anyway, what's the use of sitting on my fat ass. Gotta run." She shouted, dashing around the side and scaling a drainage pipe. You may be wondering why she was being so pleasant, well, it was probably because she was involved in a life and death situation, and she wasn't ready to die again. I watched as she shot forward, picking up the pace until she was like a blur, a monkey child scaling the building, and then she was near the top, from the sound of it, so was Akemi.

I took chase, up the stairs, as fast as I could I reached the top, keeping myself hidden behind a huge discarded Sofa, now wasn't the time to question why it was on a roof.

"Iza!" Akemi called softly, giving the raven haired informant a Hollywood smile, before tip toeing forward, hands behind her back, concealing the huge sword. Orihara Izaya placed his binoculars down on the floor and gave the blonde a small smile. His eyes looked strangely dull.

"Akemi, care to join me watching the people?" Akemi gave a small nod and stood behind him, when he looked back over the city again, she slowly moved the blade in the position to cut the informants head clean off, I closed my eyes tightly, and then I heard a war cry,

"I'll cut you like a fish!" Tomoko, was coming from the sky? No, she jumped from a nearby ledge, her trusty flick blade in her hands.

Everything went in slow motion, both girls faced each other, eyes cold and full of hate, there was a horrible squeal as metal met metal and then...


	10. Pain

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I just had to get my revision out of the way and also I got kinda hooked on "The Fault In Our Stars", but here is the awaited last instalment of this fic. Hopefully you like it.**

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She stood there, her face covered in blood, breathing heavily, eyes wide and a crazed look in them. Her white teeth gritted together as she stood over her body. Tomoko. She looked as scary as she stood over Akemi with that blood drenched flick knife hanging loosely from a blood covered left hand. To be honest, it was hard to tell if the blood dripping from the sides of her bangs was hers or Akemi's, but the crimson red colour and the monotonous drip drip drip made my stomach flip. The look in her eyes was that of a mad woman, a girl possessed. I couldn't help but let out another shudder at that twisted smile on her face.

"T.K-Chan, I'm disappointed you only came here to kill somebody." Izaya gave her hi usual smirk to which Tomoko responded to with a blank, cold look.

"Ah well, not as if you missed me much, considering you forgot all about me. I'm equally disappointed." She said, her violet eyes dark.

"How could I forget someone like you?" Izaya purred, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her close. Her body stiff at his touch, face like a blank sheet of paper. Expressionless.

"Easily enough when you have one blonde or another to chase." She said with a harsh laugh, giving him one of her sick smiles. Izaya looked over her shoulder and down at Akemi, who was lying peacefully in a puddle of her blood, a small smile on her face, eyes half shut.

"You saved my life yet again, I wonder why that is?" Izaya said, drawing his attention back to Tomoko studying her face intently.

"My own personal gain, where would I be if you died? Apart from in some endless abyss due to the fact no living human would remember me, anyway, I am practically a God, why would I want to give that up just so I can have the entertainment of watching you die?" She gave another short bark of laughter, but then broke off, giving Izaya a small smile.

"You have a bigger God Complex than I do, T.K-chan." Izaya said with a laugh, Tomoko averted her eyes for a brief second before looking back at his face.

"Anyway, I guess it is time for me to leave now, my work here is done, but maybe I might thaw out my icy cavern of a heart just for my Iza-kun and leave him a small present. You seem to like psycho chicks with twisted dispositions and since I have acquired two extra souls today, Akemi's ruined black one and an untainted, untouched human one, I am thinking of donating the human one to Akemi so she can stay here with you, I think you need each other."

"Why would I need another human, I have plenty already?" He asked, tipping his head to the side slightly, Tomoko did the same, mirroring his every move.

"Why? You may ask, why does that particular human have any significance to you? Maybe the answer is on her hand, on the small ring she wears" Tomoko shot back, pulling away from his awkward embrace and stepping towards Akemi, lifting up her limp body and placing it in Izaya's arms. Ignoring his confused and amused look as she placed a hand over her bleeding heart.

"Remind you of anyone? Not the first time a girl bled to death in your arms is it? Poor little creature, I would pity her and her sick ideals if I knew what pity were. Maybe she can help you out?"

Izaya just stared at Tomoko, an hurt look on his face. Tomoko laughed again at him, a slight look of disgust on her face.

"T.K-Chan, stay here." Izaya ordered, his expression dark and his tone slightly angry.

"Nah, why would I demote myself , and anyway, things are about to get interesting with you and this little chickadee, so I best get the popcorn out to see what Ikebukuro has in store." She broke off them, her voice wobbling. "Izaya-"

He interrupted a smug smile on his face, "Awh T.K-Chan is going to tell me she loves me, but of course I already know that, and despite you abandoning me, I also-"

Her cold laugh broke him off. "I wasn't going to say that, I was saying that I want you to look after her, because if I want to forfeit her soul, it needs a body, and I can deal with being a bit kind for a while if the situation ever arises,although..." She paused leaning in to him, the tips of their noses touching and for a moment they were lost in each other's eyes. Izaya went to lean in even closer.

"She'll wake up soon, don't worry, she is human again, so she won't kill you, well, maybe she will if she sees you like this, cheating on her." She laughed in spite of the situation, also leaning in, but at the last second rocked back on her heels, reaching up and ruffling his raven hair instead. "Though she is just renting you off of me while you live here on earth, after all, we are bound by a promise."

She took a further step back, "Well, I guess that this is goodbye." They took one last long look at each other before Tomoko turned on her heel, heading for the stairs.

"T.K-chan..." Izaya called her name softly, but she kept walking.

"Such a strange dog, finally shown some affection for the first time in her pathetic life and she is abandoning her master, maybe you are not as loyal as I originally thought." A quiet voice spoke also, but the only thing Tomoko did was smile to herself and walk down the stairs. The voice, Akemi's voice spoke again, louder this time, "But that is just why you are so interesting Akiyama-san, you never do what is expected of you."

I caught up with her at the bottom of the steps and to be completely honest I think she was waiting for me, "Suzuki-san, despite your hatred for me, you still helped me, you really are a remarkable human, and so for that I will do what I never do and thank you. Though I do wonder.." She gave me a sideways look, suspicion dancing in her eyes. "Is there a catch?"

I laughed "Only in your world would there be a catch to a favour, no Akiyama-san, there is no catch."

She narrowed her eyes, "Therefore that means I own you a favour, I believe in those things, whether you believe that I believe that or not. So your wish is my command, well, to a certain extent at least."

I considered this proposal, wondering what I could possible want and then it struck me, the thing I had been after since I was in highschool. Simply to know more, especially about Akiyama-san.

"Show me, if you will, what your childhood was like..."

"Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it, prepare yourself for what you are about to see.." Her soft ,cupped hands held my face strongly then and she head butted me hard and yet I felt pain only for a second and then coldness, as if I had been thrown in an icy lake, probably what Tomoko's heart was like. That when I took notice of my surroundings, I was in her memories. Slowly I watched each one, my mind burned, my chest ached and there was so much pain.

I opened my eyes with a gasp, air rushed to my suffocated lungs, but I could not shake the pain, it was not my pain I felt, it was Tomoko's pain and it was overwhelming, my chest felt compressed as if someone heavy had sat on my ribs. It was a similar feeling to that of watching someone you love get hurt, or being hurt in love. But this was different, her chest ached as her heart lacked love like my lungs had lacked air a few seconds prior. I assumed this pain was to do with the lack of affection Tomoko had been shown. I turned to face her, looking into those maroon eyes, meeting her purple ones with my grey ones. I held her gaze as she spoke to me, words that I am sure that will haunt me forever.

"The pain never goes away, it burns, it aches , it stabs, but it is okay, because pain just wants to be felt, to be heard and for some odd reason I can relate to it, o the way it hurts and wants to hurt. Sick and twisted I know, but that is just me all over. But do you know hurts the most Rei-chan? Do you know? I have never felt as much pain in my life as I did just now, walking away when I had the chance to say, and that hurts, right here." She placed a hand over her heart. "And i don't know why. That scares me Rei, why does it hurt?"

She looked away, giving me a small smile. "I must go. Things are going to get interesting pretty oon and I don't want to miss out." I opened my mouth to reply, but she was already gone, leaving only a single black feather despite having her wings withheld.

Curiosity does kill the cat, it brings pain, unnecessary pain. Do I wish I never knew what I chose to learn? No, because being curious is my nature, just like being a narcissistic psychopathic bitch was Tomoko's nature. I guess that's just the way we were. Though I am grateful, that for a few seconds, I almost understood what it was like for the an enigma like Tomoko to be a human being. But you can never understand an enigma, because that is why it is an enigma, right?

I couldn't have been more grateful though, for Shizuo Heiwajima. Because as I arrived home, all I had the energy to do was collapse in his arms and howl, crying tears of anguish for the girl who I had thought I had hated.

I guess I was also won over by her charisma.

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**A/N: Aaaaand that's all folks. I hope you guys enjoyed this. Thanks for reviewing 3 Love ya's**


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